The present development relates generally to fire escape devices and, more particularly, to a mechanical contrivance for extending a life saving receptacle to the immediate vicinity of an imperilled person trapped on the upper level of a burning building.
Every year numerous people are burned to death because of their inability to escape from burning buildings. Fire departments have long recognized the need for a relatively inexpensive, easily transportable piece of equipment which could be used in evacuating trapped persons from the upper levels of flame-engulfed buildings.
In 1881, U.S. Pat. No. 236,348 was issued to S. T. Mickey for a telescoping fire-escape tower apparatus which contained a flexible ladder mounted therein. Two years later Mickey was issued U.S. Pat. No. 277,049 for a similar device disposed permanently in a vault beneath the windows of a building. Both of these devices had the disadvantage that the escapee had to walk or crawl from the window sill to the door of the fire-escape tower and then climb down a flexible ladder to the ground.
Another method, considered in the past for escaping from burning buildings, has been the enclosed chute which comprises, in essence, a simple sliding board. A typical fire escape slide is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,016,975.
A rescue device combining a segmented chute with a ladder is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,088,542. This device is motorized and mounted to an automotive vehicle. This device has the disadvantage of being quite complex compared to the instant invention and is thus much more expensive to manufacture. The subject invention does not relate to slide or chute methods for escaping from fire.
While fire departments in many larger cities do have aerial fire trucks with long extension ladders available for rescue work, such expensive equipment is not usually available in smaller towns with lesser fire protection budgets. There is, therefore, a very real need for a relatively simple and inexpensive rescue device which can be afforded by smaller community fire departments and even volunteer fire companies.